My iNtrOdUcTiOn

What a bright day today, and thanks to our Lord we can still breath the fresh air in the atmosphere until today...
Oh yeah, by the way my name is Ronald Ciu, but it's better to call me ronfhank or ron only 'cause it sounded more friendlier.

This is my first time creating a blog, i've just bought a guide book on who to use and write a good blog and I'm eagerly curious to try it out and here I am, looking at my very own first blog....hehehe... although it's not really my OWN because The Blogger had provide us with a heck free and easy to use instant Blog....thanks dude....

For an Instant preview, My blog will be mainly talking about health in common but i think drugs will become my main focus because I am a Pharmacist but there is a chance that I also talk about IT(Computer,CellPhone), Japan Manga, and video games as a side-writings because they are my hobbies.

The last but not the least, I REALLY appreciate if you give your comments. I accept Critics, Advise and also Questions about my articles or even though it's not related but if I by any chance can help U, Just contact me on my e-mail address at ronfhank@gmail.com

NB: I live in Indonesia and I'm Thinking to make a Translation for every articles that i wrote but maybe I'll save it for the next post

And here is my first Post, It's about everything u need to know about Analgesics and Pain....

Analgesia And Pain

Pain is defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain as ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.'

Under normal circumstances pain is the result of stimulation of peripheral receptors which transmit impulses through pain pathways to the brain. Pain receptors or nociceptors are of two basic types:

mechanoheat receptors have a high stimulation threshold and respond to intense or potentially damaging noxious stimuli. These receptors are associated with rapidly conducting, thinly myelinated Aδ fibres, and their stimulation produces rapid sharp localized pain that serves to activate withdrawal reflexes

polymodal nociceptors respond to mechanical, thermal, or chemical insults. These receptors are also activated by cellular components that are released following tissue damage. Their impulses are transmitted slowly along unmyelinated C type fibres and produce dull, aching, and poorly localised pain with a slower onset.

Nerve fibres from nociceptors terminate in the dorsal root of the spinal cord before transmission by ascending pathways to the brain. There have been many theories on the processing of pain signals at the spinal level but the 'gate theory' proposed by Melzack and Wall is one of the best known. This theory postulates that the transmission of impulses to the brain is modulated by a gate mechanism in the substantia gelatinosa. Stimulation of small fibres opens the gate and facilitates transmission whereas stimulation of large fibres, which normally carry non-painful sensory input, can close the gate and inhibit transmission. Transmission also appears to be modulated by several other mechanisms which can influence the sensitivity of the gate.

Inflammatory mediators such as bradykinin, histamine, serotonin, and prostaglandins produced in response to tissue damage can produce peripheral sensitisation so that receptors respond to low intensity or innocuous stimuli; central sensitisation also occurs. Pain associated with tissue damage hence results in increased sensitivity of the sensory system so that the pain can occur in the absence of a clear stimulus. There may be a reduction in the pain threshold (allodynia) resulting in an exaggerated response (hyperalgesia) or a prolonged effect (hyperpathia).

Pain is often classified as being acute or chronic in nature.

Acute pain is associated with trauma or disease and usually has a well-defined location, character, and timing. It is accompanied by symptoms of autonomic hyperactivity such as tachycardia, hypertension, sweating, and mydriasis.

Chronic pain is usually regarded as pain lasting more than a few months. It may not be clearly associated with trauma or disease or may persist after the initial injury has healed; its localisation, character, and timing are more vague than with acute pain. Furthermore, as the autonomic nervous system adapts, the signs of autonomic hyperactivity associated with acute pain disappear. Some forms of pain regarded as being chronic may consist of intermittent attacks of pain followed by relatively long pain-free periods. Patients with chronic pain experience physical, psychological, social, and functional deterioration which contributes towards exacerbation of the pain.

Physiologically, pain may be divided into nociceptive pain and neuropathic pain.

Nociceptive pain follows activation of nociceptors by noxious stimuli as described above but is not associated with injury to peripheral nerves or the CNS. It may be somatic or visceral, depending on which receptors or nerves are involved. Somatic pain is usually well localised and may be described as deeply located, sharp or dull, nagging, stabbing, throbbing, or pressure-like. Visceral pain is generally less localised and more diffuse than somatic pain and may be referred to remote areas of the body. Depending on the structure involved it is variously described as deeply located, aching, nagging, cramping, or pressing and may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Nociceptive pain usually responds to treatment with conventional analgesics.

Pain resulting from damage or dysfunction of peripheral nerves/receptors or of the CNS is known as neuropathic pain (or neurogenic pain). The term covers sympathetically maintained pain including causalgia and reflex sympathetic dystrophy, and painful conditions such as postherpetic and trigeminal neuralgia, and diabetic neuropathy. Neuropathic pain associated with central nervous tissue, such as in central post-stroke pain (the thalamic syndrome) is referred to as central pain. The clinical signs of neuropathic pain can vary greatly. Some of the more common features include heightened pain sensitivity and sensations of superficial burning or stabbing (lancinating) pain. The pain may be associated with areas of sensory deficit or some form of autonomic instability. Neuropathic pain responds poorly to conventional analgesics and can be difficult to treat.

Early treatment of pain is important as unrelieved pain can have profound psychological effects on the patient, and acute pain that is poorly managed initially can degenerate into chronic pain, which may prove to be much more difficult to treat. It is important to assess and treat the mental and emotional aspects of the pain as well as its physical aspects. Although drug therapy is a mainstay of pain treatment, physical methods such as physiotherapy (including massage and the application of heat and cold), surgery, and nervous system stimulation techniques such as acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) are also used.

See u at my next articles, I'll talk about the choice of analgesics.....